


Between the Scenes

by vitaldose



Series: Between the Scenes [1]
Category: X-Men, XMFC - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-28
Updated: 2013-02-28
Packaged: 2017-12-03 22:36:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/703394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vitaldose/pseuds/vitaldose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charles never anticipated Erik Lensherr to be more than just a friend.</p>
<p>(An attempt to add a romantic sub plot of XMFC in between the scenes of the movie.)</p>
<p>(WARNING: The next two chapters will contain VERY NSFW content and will be tagged accordingly).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Between the Scenes

The windows in the mansion needed cleaning.

  
It wasn’t something Charles would have thought about, let alone cared about, it he hadn’t just spend an immeasurable amount of time staring out of them.

  
The days felt shorter as if time itself had sped up simply in order to give Charles and his merry band of misfits less of it itself. Father time, he once commented, was a selfish old goat.

  
Time had never been an issue for Charles, in his mind he’d have all the time in the world to do something great, to make his mark on the world. He’d once believed it would be through science, to prove the existence of evolved beings on earth and that man hadn’t simply stopped at homo-sapien. But he didn’t have to as he’d found so many more.  
He’d continue his research of course; after all he was a man of science. It was in his nature to work, to pursue a goal. He simply hadn’t imagined everything he ever dreamed of to come true all at once.

  
He had certainly never planned on Erik Lensherr coming in to his life.

  
The two men couldn’t have been any more different. While Charles had spent his time pursuing education and the occasional co-ed, Erik had spent his life hell bent on revenge, for himself, for his people and for his mother. Although Charles had felt the anger and the pain, he hadn’t really felt it. He would never truly understand the horrors of Erik’s life and would never pretend as if he did.

  
Sympathy had become a hard emotion to come by but Charles found it and forced himself to know it, not understanding it had been something he’d been ashamed of for most of his young life. It was because of this that he could empathize with Erik properly, having been in his mind for those few moments, he knew how to react to it in a way that would better benefit their relationship. He was embarrassed that it sometimes had to come to that, he’d relied so long on his telepathy to help him read people better, that he sometimes forgot when it was proper. But he knew in that moment he had no choice, reading his mind was the only way to find out why it was this man was risking his life to stop a submarine. He doubted, now having spent some time with the man, that Erik would have spoken about the events of his past so easily. If Charles had not read his mind that night, Erik might not have stayed the night he planned to leave, back at the facility.

  
The Facility, Charles laughed wiping the dust from the window ceil.

 

* * *

  
The facility was the first time Charles had seen Erik in any light other than that of the one of comradery. The night he intended on leaving Charles had felt fear, not just fear for his new friend’s safety but fear that he may never see him again.

  
He chocked it up to the fact that he had wanted to keep them all together, he was paranoid that in these early stages that if they separated it’d be impossible to bring them back. They were mostly kids; all coming from volatile environments who’d now witnessed the death of one of their own and Erik seemed to get them just a little better than he did.

  
It wasn’t long after Charles had first used cerebro, he found himself drained yet, with an energy he couldn’t explain. He was excited; they weren’t alone, not by a long shot. Everything he’d ever dreamed about, everything he’d worked to find had been shown to him in a matter of minutes, there mutants thousands of them.  
He couldn’t explain his jubilation to the others, yes they too were delighted, but not in the way he was. He’d seen them. Where they were, what they looked like, people of all shapes, sizes, colors and creeds, men, women and children.

  
Mutants.

  
That night Charles decided to take a walk about the facility. Everyone had already gone to sleep so he figured there would be no one about to ask him questions or bother him, no one to break his concentration. So when he came in to the hanger only to find Erik there, it completely broke his train of thought, to the point of standing there looking slightly dumbfounded.

“I didn’t know anyone else was up” Charles finally stuttered out “you gave me quite the fright” he clutched his chest dramatically.

  
“You hadn’t thought to-“ Erik tapped his temple “-check?”

  
“Afraid not, I don’t usually make sure everyone makes their bed time.”

  
“Maybe you should, might keep you from a potential heart attack.”

  
“Sound advice” Charles moved further in to the hanger “can’t sleep?”

  
“Not a new occurrence for me Charles” Erik smiled “as you might already know.”

  
Charles didn’t return the smile the images of what Shaw did to Erik were still quite fresh in his mind. He was brought out of it as Erik laughed softly “I’d imagined as much.”  
“We’ll find Shaw, we’ll stop him, he’ll pay-“ but he didn’t have a chance to finish as Erik held his hand up.

  
“Charles, if I didn’t believe you, I would have left last night. There is no need to repeat yourself honestly.”

  
“Right, sorry, I sometimes tend to get ahead of myself.”

  
“I’d noticed” Erik stood from the platform he’d been sitting on and started the short trip to where Charles now stood “Now are you going to tell me why you can’t sleep or will I have to read your mind?”

  
Charles breathed a laugh “Yes, well, I’d like to see you try” he leaned against a railing, his arms crossed “if you must know, I’m thinking of those people I saw today “ he pursed his lips a moment before continuing “I can’t seem to get them out of my head.”

  
“Oh?” Erik now stood beside Charles, but he doubted the other man even noticed.

  
“I mean, one day they’ll all know they aren’t alone. Right now so many of them are scared, alone, as we once were” he looked up, finally realizing how close Erik had gotten “we can help them.”

  
“Can we?” Erik raised his eyebrows.

  
“Yes” Charles nodded “I know we can.”

  
“Optimism, Charles, can be deadly.”

  
“So can pessimism, at any rate it never hurt anyone to hope.”

  
“No” Erik replied, his face unable to hide what feelings the word hope had brought to the surface “I don’t imagine it has.”

  
The pair were silent, each either unable or unwilling to speak their minds. Finally Charles spoke “Erik- if you ever want to talk about what happened-“

  
“I don’t” he snapped.

  
“But it could be good for you-“

  
“Charles-“

  
“Right, sorry” Charles backed off, he wouldn’t let it go. He knew the power of words and the feeling of release once you a found a way to convey your emotions in to them. He knew once Erik was able to talk, he could begin to heal.

  
It was silent again.

  
An animal could be heard in the distance.

  
“Thank you” Erik said finally “for-“ he paused, unaccustomed to this type of social interaction . He wasn’t entirely sure how to thank a man for both being kind and saving his life. What he didn’t realize was that he didn’t have to say anything really, Charles knew.

  
“You’re welcome, I’m glad I was there.”

  
“I’m glad you had the balls to jump in after me” he reached down and place his hand over the other mans “really.”

  
Charles was completely stunned, so much so that when the other man went to pull his hand away Charles grabbed it, causing Erik to look down.

  
“Charles-“

  
“Thank you,” Charles interrupted “for staying. I’m not sure I could have done what I’ve done so far, I mean, I don’t think I could have even started this whole thing without you. I’m quite nervous about the whole prospect-”

  
Erik squeezed his hand hard as if contemplating something “You’re rambling.”

  
“I-“  
“Your point?”

  
“My point-“

  
Erik raised his eyebrows.

  
“My point is I might have lost my nerve by this point and none of what I have would have ever had a chance to begin; now it can.” He kept his eyes locked on Erik’s “So thank you.”

  
Erik leaned in, his face a solid mask of confusion and fear and planted the softest of kisses on Charles’s lips, before releasing himself from the other man’s grip quickly and walking out of the hanger. Charles spent the rest of the remaining night lying in bed, puzzled over Erik’s actions, puzzled yet intrigued.


End file.
